Our unique 2017/2018 Energy Labels have been released for all certified renewable electricity customers

Blog

Posted on: 26/09/2018

This week marks the third year running that our customers have received their annual Energy Label showing their fuel mix and carbon emissions for the certification period. Robin Jolly, Head of Account Management, explains the value the Energy Labels provide to customers and why they have become so popular.

The concept of the Energy Label was introduced by the Aldersgate Group in 2014 and we were the first supplier to embrace this initiative. We believe it is important that our customers know with certainty where their renewable electricity comes from.

All our customers on our certified Renewable Standard and Renewable Natural tariffs have received or will very shortly receive an annual Energy Label, which shows their fuel mix and carbon emissions for the certification period (01 Apr 2017 – 31 Mar 2018).

How are the Energy Labels created?

Every megawatt hour of electricity supplied to our renewable customers during the reporting period is backed with a UK-recognised origin certificate.

Using our unique Emissions Factor Model, we allocate one origin certificate to every megawatt hour supplied to our renewable customers. This robust process ensures there is no double-counting or under-allocation of certificates.

To provide added assurance, this process is certified by the Carbon Trust. Once their audit is complete we publish our annual fuel mix and create individual Energy Labels for all our renewable customers.

What is the value of having an Energy Label?

There are lots of great uses for our Energy Labels, but I think there are three crucial factors that make the Energy Label so valuable to our customers:

1. Many of our customers selected a renewable product with us to help meet their sustainability targets and report on their carbon emissions annually. The Energy Label helps businesses report their scope 2 emissions with confidence and some of our customers even use their energy label within their sustainability report.

2. Another great use of the energy label for our customers, is to visually show their sustainability credentials to their customers and investors; showing they are meeting their commitments. By publishing the label on their company website and displaying it in their offices/stores, businesses sustainability credentials are clear for everyone to see.

3. The Energy Label can also be used as a great tool for increasing internal engagement and can even be used in conjunction with other environmental initiatives such as energy efficiency.

If you have used your Energy Label, show us how by mentioning us @smartestenergy and use the hashtag #renewableenergylabel.